SerpApi.Org
The New York Knicks are finally NBA champions again for the first time in 53 years, and Karl-Anthony Towns played a massive role in getting there. Yet, even with a ring on his finger, Towns’ long-term future in New York has suddenly become one of the NBA’s biggest storylines.
Towns is entering the final guaranteed year of the four-year, $220 million deal he signed with Minnesota back in 2024, with a player option kicking in after the 2026-27 season. Typically, a star who just helped deliver a city a championship, let alone a basketball-crazed one like New York, would already have a contract extension in place, or at least be closing in on one.
So far, that hasn’t happened. And according to ESPN’s cap expert and front office insider Bobby Marks, with both Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby, two more crucial pieces to their championship run, eligible for extensions next year, this situation has become even more complicated if the franchise wants to keep its core intact beyond next season.
“Towns for me is fascinating because of what it could set up for what happens with that roster there. Next year is Jalen Brunson and OG, and eventually, all these numbers start to add up here,” Marks said on a recent episode of “The Hoop Collective” podcast. “Will the Towns number be lower? Give them the flexibility. We’re in a day and age where players are negotiating, and teams are, negotiating also.”
“The Knicks don’t want him to be a free agent in 2027, which is where he could be,” said host Brian Windhorst. “They had an opportunity to extend him before last season. I’m not criticizing that, it worked out. Now they’ve left themselves where they’re in a position to deal with that.”
“It’s really about the 2028-29 year,” Marks continued. “That’s where you’re going to start to see things add up with New York. But certainly him taking a little bit less would give them more flexibility next offseason to be able to add some things to the roster so they’re not just pressed up against that second apron.”
More news: LeBron James Reportedly ‘Irritated’ by Adam Silver Over Free Agency Pressure
More news: Steph Curry Just Made Hall of Fame History — And He’s Not Even Retired
Modern NBA front offices face a brutal balancing act of keeping their star players while also maintaining flexibility to build a complete roster around them.
The league’s second apron, introduced in the 2023 CBA, punishes big-spending teams with harsh trade restrictions, limited exceptions, and a near-hard cap once payroll crosses a certain threshold. Crossing it not only costs the team money but strips them of the tools needed to fill out a deep, competitive bench.
The Boston Celtics are a good recent example of what the Knicks are trying to avoid. Boston won a championship just two years ago, and yet within a little over a year, they’ve been forced to get rid of almost all of the pieces that got them there. They traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in June 2025, lost both Al Horford and Luke Kornet in free agency, and recently even moved on from Finals MVP Jaylen Brown.
For New York, winning the franchise’s first title in over five decades was the first challenge. Now, it’s about keeping the group together to stay competitive in an Eastern Conference that’s only getting stronger.
More news: NBA Insider Reveals Why Rival Teams Backed Off Pistons’ Jalen Duren
Related Articles
